Sword and the Stone
by Ron the True Fan
Summary: Universal Century 0094: a Neo-Zeon and Londo Bell fleet, in the middle of a minor fight, are sent 20 years into the past and to the other end of the galaxy. Can they change the outcome of a war before it starts?
1. PrologueShips and Mobile Suits

Sword and the Stone

Universal Century 0094: a year has passed since the end of the Second Neo-Zeon War. Londo Bell continues hunting down the Zeon remnants, continuing to try to restore peace. Leading one such group is the Mobile Suit pilot Major Ronald Pinkerton, a Spacenoid, but loyal to the Federation's basic principles. A veteran of the First and Second Neo-Zeon Wars, he is a capable pilot, but not on the level of Char Aznable or Amuro Ray.

With his assignment to the MSC-07 _Albion_, refit and recommissioned, the Major leads a newbie squadron on the hunt for the remains of Char's force, mostly made up of ships from the Dalaz Fleet and new ships built after the First Neo-Zeon War.

Destiny, however, has a plan for these forces. And Destiny, no matter how hard you try, always wins.

As I am taking (reasonable) requests, I'm writing a new story.

As you can tell, it's a _Gundam UC/Mass Effect_ crossover.

117Jorn requested that I use my OC/Avatar in a crossover between the two, and I need to write a _Gundam_ story so I can get my OTHER shit back on track.

Ships seen in this story by class:

Earth Federation Space Forces, Londo Bell division, Task Force 108

_Pegasus/Albion_-Class (MSC-07 _Albion_)

_Magellan Kai_-Class (SCVA-15 _Eagle_, -16 _Falcon_, -19 _Shadow_, -21 _Silver_, -22 _Raptor_ and -35 _Lightning_)

Clop-Class (SLCV-24 _Vulture_, -25 _Vulpine_, -35 _York_, -49 _Washington_ and 6 _others_)

_Salamis_-Class (_Burgundy, Sierra Leone, Sakhalin, Orlando, Corsica, Ascension, _and _Squaw_ _Valley_)

_Ra-Cailum_-Class (SCVA-84 _Ra_-_Horakhty_)

Neo-Zeon Fleet, Valkyrie Division, Task Force 651

_Endra_-Class (_Sandra, Landra, Indra_)

_Musaka_-Class (_Garom_, _Guskor_)

_Gwazine_-Class (_Gandowa, Gwashu, Gidoru_)

_Dolos_-Class (_Midolo_)

_Sadalahn-_Class (_Sazadan_)

_Zanzibar_-Class (_Ingolstadt_, _Keraunos_, _Ragnarok_)

Captured _Alexandria_-Class (_Al Qasr, Aswan, Belgrade_)

Mobile Suits:

EFSF, LB, TF 108

1x RX-178C Gundam Mk II Commander Type

30x RGM-89 Jegan, 10x RGM-89C Commander Type Jegan

30x RGM-86R GM III, 10x RGM-86RC Commander Type GM III

10x RMS-119R EWAC Zack Kai

20x RGC-89 GM Cannon III

Neo-Zeon Fleet, Valkyrie Division, TF 651

1x RX-178 Gundam Mk II

40x MS-06F Zaku II

25x AMX-011 Zaku III

35x MS-14 Gelgoog

60x AMS-119 Geara-Doga

5x RMS-119 EWAC Zack

If you are unfamiliar with the _Dolos_-Class, it's a huge fucking carrier: it can and usually does, carry 70+ MSs.

I'm also rewriting MSG00: Char's Counterattack, as I wasn't happy with it. I just need to get used to my Gundam style of writing. Again.

Ja Ne!


	2. Chapter 1: In the Very Beginning

Sword and the Stone

Chapter 1: In the Very Beginning

Universal Century 0094: a year has passed since the end of the Second Neo-Zeon War. Londo Bell continues hunting down the Zeon remnants, continuing to try to restore peace.

MSC-07 Albion: February 15th, UC 0094

Task Force 108 was made of 25 ships, mostly of the _Salamis_-Class.

"_Major, you are clear for launch_."

The Gundam Mk II sat on the catapult, with the Major closing his helmet's visor.

"Major Ronald Pinkerton, RX-178C Gundam Mk II, launching!"

The MS was launched into the void, followed by Alpha Team.

"Alright, kids, standard CAP. AWACS, keep an eye out."

"_Copy that, Major_."

"_So, why are we on CAP today, Boss_?"

"Because YOU idiots decided to start a fight with Bravo Team on the _Ra-Horakhty!"_

The 'fight' was a massive brawl that started between the two MS teams Alpha and Bravo.

It escalated and involved half the men and women that flew MSs for Task Force 108.

Until the Major broke it up with his old, but still deadly, PKM GPMG.

After that, everyone was thrown in the brig, and Alpha Team was released on CAP duties only.

Of course, the Major was known for surprise training sessions.

The black flight suit, an artifact of his Titans flight training program, was still imposing, and unlike most Titans flight suits, had a wrist computer hooked into the OS of the Mk II.

He activated the training program. "The hell? Everything's on blank fire!" "Exactly." 'Blank fire' was the short word for training mode. The Mk II spun to face Alpha Team with the new beam rifle (AN: Think something like the Blazefire Carbine from _Final Fantasy XIII_) and fired two rounds at one of the Alpha Team Jegans.

"FUCK!"

The Suit was 'destroyed', and the rifle/sword switched to saber mode. "Oh, shit! Sabers out!"

SCVA-15 _Eagle_

"He's kicking their asses today."

Lieutenant Juri Ibuki sighed at the sight.

"He's just beating the shit out of them for that fight on the _Ra-Horakhty_. The Major's outdoing it."

The captain chuckled.

"The Major's in charge of the MS teams, Lieutenant. Let him handle the pilots."

Then the sensors went crazy.

"Minovsky Particle levels are raising!"

"Major, your CAP is being shifted to combat status!"

"_Alright, kids, blank fire's off! AWACS, where's our target?!_"

"_Jamming's too intense_!"

Then a bazooka round barely missed one of the ships. Juri screamed and put on her helmet.

"That won't help if one hits the bridge!"

Then a 100mm round hit the bridge, but failed to explode.

The captain was blown into space.

RX-178C Gundam Mk II Commander Type

"Fuck me! All Suits, engage!"

"_It's a squadron of Zakus_!"

As a vet of the First and Second Wars, the Major knew that the MS-06 Zaku II was a simple MS, but no less deadly.

"Take them out!"

Then they started firing beam rounds at them.

"Those aren't Zakus! They're Hizacks!"

From a distance, it was easy to mistake the EFSF-built RMS-106 Hizack for the Zeon-designed MS-06 Zaku II.

It was a long range firefight, as none of them wanted to get into melee range of that sword/rifle.

It didn't spare the bridge crews of the EFSF task force, though, but the bullets continued to fail to explode.

Then again, they were One Year War-era rounds, and explosive rounds that old always failed to explode.

They were doing their job, however: as always, EFSF captains were overconfident, and failed to put on their helmets.

They were either blown out into space or drowned in the vacuum.

"Come on! You assholes want me?! Come and fucking GET ME!"

He pulled out a new weapon from Anaheim: a beam magnum.

Unfortunately, the second he fired, everything went to hell.

The shot hit an asteroid.

In that asteroid was the wreck of a _Salamis_-Class ship from the One Year War.

In the wreck was a nuclear warhead with a 300 megaton yield.

The round hit, and the nuke exploded.

"Well, this is fucking bad."

5 hours later

The Major woke up in the cockpit of his MS. "Shit."

"_Major! You there, Boss_?!"

"Pinkerton here. What the fuck happened?"

"_This is the Neo-Zeon warship _Sazadan_ to the Federation Forces fleet. We require assistance_!"

The Major was half-tempted not to answer.

But he wasn't THAT cruel.

"_Sazadan_, this is Major Ronald Pinkerton. State your emergency."

"_We've got wounded! Too many to handle_-"

Static filled the radio.

"_Sir, they're the_ enemy."

"Take a good look at the stars."

"_Sir?"_

"I don't recognize any of them. That means that we're the only people around. The brass can court marshal me later. MOVE!"

Neo-Zeon vessel _Sazadan_

While the pilots of the Zaku escorts weren't happy about the Gundam Mk II landing in their hanger, they didn't have a choice: it was escorting the shuttle carrying the medical team. The pilot, a Major Pinkerton, left his Suit after locking it down.

Their nervous CO, Lieutenant Maya Futyutsuki, was more jumpy then normal.

Then again, she was the highest ranking officer in the run-down task force.

Made up of One Year War, Gryps War and Neo-Zeon Wars veterans that didn't get into the fight, they had old or run-down ships and very few supplies for their Mobile Suits.

"I'm Major Pinkerton. Are you the captain?"

She shuttered for a moment.

"Uh, k-kind of. I'm the highest ranking person in the fleet."

She muttered out "The highest ranking person that can walk on her own."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, MAJOR, that I'm the only high ranking person in the fleet with that can walk or breathe on his or her own! And I'm a supply clerk!"

"Relax, Lieutenant. Do you have any medical teams?"

"None of them are available: too busy on the other ships. We're undermanned."

"Then we'll have to send all of ours. Frankly, we're overmanned: too many medical and engineering teams. We were on our way to Side 4 to deliver them before returning to our patrol route when you guys shot at us."

"Can you blame us? We don't have many supplies left."

"Enough to maintain a squadron of MSs."

"That's all we've got: spare parts."

They moved into the medical bay.

"These are the commanders. They were having a meeting when we spotted you and attacked." The Major used his emergency medical training to identify what was wrong with them.

"Severe radiation poisoning. Sorry to say, but they're fucked. You need a proper medical facility to care for them. We don't have that, either."

"Damn it."

One of the commanders, in fact, the Admiral of the fleet, looked at the Major.

"You...Here..." He floated over. "Name?"

"Pinkerton. I'm EFSF, but I'm not your enemy. Not now, at least."

"My people-"

"Your flag officers are dying. I don't consider you to be my enemy, and we're far from home. I don't know any of the stars. And I'm a Spacenoid."

"Take...Command..."

"I'll contact my CO."

"Seig...Seig..."

The Major nodded.

"Seig Zeon."

His breathing ceased.

The Major turned to face the Lieutenant.

"Patch me through to the_ Ra-Horakhty_. It's the _Ra-Cailum_-Class battleship."

She nodded.

"Understood, Major."

"I'm sorry."

4 hours later

"Attention all EFSF and Neo-Zeon vessels and Mobile Suit Teams: this is Major Pinkerton. Under the authority of the late Admiral Gorshkov of the Neo-Zeon fleet, I am taking command of both fleets as the surviving highest ranking officer, as all EFSF captains and commanders are dead due to the attack 9 hours ago. All MS team commanders and command staff will report to the MSC-07 _Albion_ to discuss the situation. Until then, don't shoot at one another: Lieutenant Futyutsuki is a MS pilot as well as a clerk, and I WILL send her after you if you do. Brawls will be...tolerated, as long as there are no shootouts. Message ends."

The Major shut off the radio.

"As much as you hate me and my people hate you, we need to work together."

"You don't hate us Zeeks?"

"I'm a Spacenoid: my opinion is neutral to both sides. In short-"

He held his index finger and thumb a millimeter apart.

"This is how much I care." "When why did you join the Federation Forces?"

"Recruited into the Titans during the last days of the Gryps War. Transferred to the regular forces after the Colony Laser killed most of them off."

MSC-07 _Albion_

While the surviving officers talked, the bridge crew continued doing their jobs. The damage to the bridge was sealed and repaired within an hour, but the Captain and XO were dead. All in all, 15 people on average were killed on each ship. "Can you get the Major on the horn? I got a contact on sensors." "I do NOT want to interrupt that meeting. Major's a stickler for them." Alice Langford sighed. "I'll do it myself!" She put in the call down to the makeshift wardroom. "Pinkerton here. What the hell is it?" "Contact on the edge of sensor range, about 200 kilometers away." "Send Alpha Team and one of the Neo-Zeon MS teams. As long as they don't shoot each other, they'll be fine." The line cut out. "Oh, boy. This is not going to end well." "Neo-Zeon MS Team Hector 1 and EFSF team Alpha, intercept target."

RGM-89C Jegan

"Copy that, _Albion._ Alright, people, let's go."

The two MS teams turned toward the target on their sleds.

"_Range to target_?"

"_182 kilometers. It's gonna be close_."

"It's getting closer: range is decreasing."

"_All the better_."

"Hector 5, calm down! This is an intercept mission! We're not shooting at them until they shoot at us!"

"_If they shoot at us, _Lieutenant."

"_At least we've got beam rifles, right_?"

The start of a new story is always slow, but as this is a mostly OC story (no Gundam heroes or villains) it'll be slower then normal.

This is pre-Suicide Mission during _Mass Effect 2_, as I always HATED not having everything and having to rescue everyone at the end when I wasn't ready.

And this time, the Collectors aren't collecting shit from the _Normandy_: Minovsky beam rifles are a royal bitch.

Next Time on Sword and the Stone: As the Collectors attack the _Normandy_, the two MS teams arrive.

Ja Ne!


	3. Chapter 2: Mobile Suit

Sword and the Stone

Chapter 2: Mobile Suit

(AN: All the chapter names are taken from anime OSTs. Anyone who can name the anime it came from gets an OC. Just send the name and description in a PM. This one's obviously from Gundam Unicorn, so that's out. Good luck)

The _Normandy_ SR-2 hung nearly dead in space. The stealth system was engaged, although anyone with high powered visual sensors could see the fucking thing 1000 kilometers away. (AN: Seriously, everyone in ME uses heat sensors. Bad idea)

Less then 70 km away were MS teams Alpha and Hector.

"_Nice ship. No MS catapults, though_."

"_We're in the middle of fucking nowhere and you're thinking about_ MS catapults?"

"_Hey, we need to refuel. Don't blame me for thinking ahead_."

The Jegan Commander Type pilot sighed.

"_Unidentified vessel, this is MS Team Alpha Leader. Please respond_."

"_MS Alpha Team Leader, this is_ Normandy _SR-2: how can we help you guys today_?"

"_Great, a comedian_."

"_Hey, just trying to make conversation. Name's Jeff Moreau, but you can call me Joker_."

The lead Zaku turned its' head to the left.

"_Hey, something's screwing with my sensors!_"

Then a monstrous ship appeared over the Normandy.

"_FUCK ME_!"

The lead Jegan opened fire, despite knowing that the shots would do nothing at that range.

"_What the hell did you guys do?! I just lost attitude control_!"

The _Normandy_ was moving away from the huge warship at a slow speed, but the ship was drifting away from the frigate.

"_Control back online! We're moving out_!"

The _Normandy_ had recovered from the sudden overload, but the Collector vessel, more advanced and thus vulnerable to Minovsky particles.

"_Listen, can you give us a lift? We're out of fuel_."

"_What the hell are those things_?"

MSC-07 Albion

"Incoming contacts!"

The first was the _Normandy_ SR-2, with a large number of Mobile Suits hanging off of it.

The second was the Collector vessel.

"Holy shit! All vessels, level one battle stations!"

The fleet turned as best it could to lock their cannons on the target, as most of the guns on the _Magellans_ and _Salamis_-Class ships fired forward only, even after the refits that added more unidirectional cannon turrets.

The Collectors weren't prepared for an attack by ships with Minovsky weaponry.

Then again, they weren't ready for ANYTHING like these warships had.

"Firing Mega Particle Cannons!"

The main guns on the _Albion_ opened up, with 300 millimeter-thick Minovsky particle-infused plasma being fired from the underside-mounted weapons.

The massed cannon fire eventually ripped through the hull of the huge ship, and this was added by the _Normandy's_ new Thanix Cannon.

More punch, but it didn't destroy the electronic systems on board first, making it easier to deal more damage.

Still, with the amount of fire, the ship was still fucking screwed.

"Target destroyed!"

Then the Major and Lieutenant Futyutsuki ran (floated, really, but hey, same idea) onto the bridge. "What the hell just happened?"

"I think Alpha Team should answer that question for you, Major. We just entered a fucking shitstorm."

4 hours later

Commander Jane Sheppard and her team entered the hanger of the so-called Mobile Suit Carrier Albion.

Tali chuckled at the sight of the bullet-firing CIWS cannons.

"The original _Normandy_ could take this thing out."

Zaeed shook his head.

"It's a carrier."

"And you would know?"

"Old 20th Century stuff, kid. Basic design screams 'carrier'."

Just as he said it, one of the _Albion's_ catapults swung into position.

"What the hell could they be launching?"

Then they saw it.

An RGM-87R GM III launched from the _Albion._

Miranda gaped at the sight. "What the hell was that thing?!"

"Shuttle 001 from Normandy SR-2, you are clear to land. Major Pinkerton will meet your in hanger." "Must be the XO."

MSC-07 Albion MS Hanger

"Well, you pegged the 'Carrier' part, Zaeed." (Camera angle zooms out to show the whole hanger)

"But I didn't know that it carried those."

If we could see Tali's face, her jaw would be hitting the deck.

"Keelah se'lai! How many of those things are there?!"

"The _Albion_ can carry 10 Mobile Suits."

They turned to face a woman in overalls.

"Chief Maria Howe. I'm the head MS mechanic on board the _Albion_."

"Commander Jane Sheppard, Normandy SR-2." The two women shook hands.

"Still, what's with the mechs?"

"Mobile Suits. The pilots are REAL touchy about that. As for why we have them, I don't know, and don't care. Ask the Major. Find his Gundam, and you'll find him."

She jumped over to one of the GM IIIs.

"Zero gravity, beam weapons that can disable a ship even when they DON'T hit and giant human-like war machines? Who the hell _are_ these guys?"

Sheppard looked at Katsumi.

"Let's find the Major and find out. What the hell is a Gundam?"

Garrus pointed at an MS that was different then all the others: V-fin, two 'eyes' and a different paint job.

"Maybe it's that one."

"Let's find out."

RX-178C Gundam Mk II Commander Type

"Cross circuit A with circuit D."

The cockpit sparked.

"Fuck! A with E."

More sparks.

"Shit! A with G?"

The cockpit lit up.

"Yatta!"

"Hey!"

"What?!"

"You Major Pinkerton?" "I'm the one with the Gundam; what the fuck do _you_ think?"

Then the cockpit shut down.

"Piece of fucking shit Gryps War-era cockpit!"

He climbed out.

"Chief!"

"Yeah, sir?"

"I'm ditching the cockpit! Fucking thing's finally reached the limit!"

"About time!"

He jumped out onto the deck, landing softly on the deck.

"Commander Sheppard, from the Normandy."

"Major Pinkerton, leader of Task Force 108's MS teams and the highest surviving ranking officer left in the fleet."

Sheppard chuckled.

"Lot of responsibility there." "I'm a pilot and an instructor, not a flag officer. This ain't my job."

He looked over to the group that Sheppard brought with her.

"Wow."

"Never seen aliens before?"

"Unless we've been sent into the future, no, we haven't."

One of the humans in the group that weren't talking with the rest of the crew, a man who looked like he had seen it all, walked over.

"I'd know if humans had shit like this, Sheppard. I've worked with a LOT of people who knew some fucked up shit. This wasn't on the list."

The Major hopped up to one of the catwalks.

"Come on, I'll give you guys the tour."

She shrugged.

"Why not?"

RMS-119 EWAC Zack on CAP

Six EWAC Zacks (four EFSF, two Neo-Zeon) patrolled on the fleet's perimeter.

"_So, who's tempted to shoot at one another right now_?"

"_We _ALL_ are, Roy. Shut up and we won't shoot YOU_."

Roy Aran sighed, and continued feeding the ships with the much-needed radar and sensor data.

Contrary to popular belief, most EWAC pilots were normal MS pilots: they had no training on how to interpret the data most of the time: they just fed it to their motherships.

"Hold it: I've got something. Where's the CAP?"

"_Other end of the fleet: Two Gelgoogs and a Jegan. Why_?"

"I got a contact. And it's _massive_!"

MSC-07 Albion

"And this is CIC."

The bridge was fully manned, and the atmosphere was tense.

"Major! We just picked up-Whoa."

She was staring at Sheppard's team.

"Report, Lieutenant."

"We picked up a large ship on the radar and thermal sensors. MS teams are requesting to go weapons free."

"Are they sending images?"

"Aye, Major."

The screen showed a large ship, with a sphere in the center.

"That's a Quarian live ship."

"Friendly?"

"Very much so, Major."

The man smiled.

"Tell the pilots to RTB. We're fine."

8 hours later

_Fleet Commander's Log, February 16th, UC 0094: This is Major Ronald Pinkerton, highest surviving ranking officer left in the fleet. As of now, I take command of TF108 and a Neo-Zeon fleet, ID Task Force 651. In 4 hours, we'll be on our way to Earth, and the heads of government are VERY interested in our ships and Mobile Suits. In fact, I'm going to be training thousands of pilots in MS combat. I am going to have FUN._

The evil grin never left the Major's face.

Lieutenant Futyutsuki walked over to him in the mess hall on the _Albion._

"I don't like that grin."

"You shouldn't, if you were one of my students." He ate his meal quickly. "I've heard of your reputation, Major. Before being assigned to this ship, you trained almost every pilot in the Earth Federation Space Forces."

"Before the Second Neo-Zeon War, you mean. I lost a lot of my students in that debacle. I barely got to continue teaching before I got reassigned."

He sighed and sat back.

"The new guy's an idiot. One of mine, but he was too stupid to survive a single fight with Char's fleet."

"Got shot down?"

"Lost three fingers and a toe."

"Reminds me of our we got our asses handed to us during the OYW."

"You're a bit young to be a veteran."

"I worked on the ground. Supply clerk stuff."

"Served at Odessa?"

She nodded.

"I was on the SSTO that escaped the facility after the _White Base_ and the Gundam kicked our asses." "How ironic that you're on board the _White Base's_ little sister."

"They look alike, but-" "Both ships are Pegasus-Class. This one was built after the war, though. Served during the Dalaz Fleet Incident, known to you guys as Operation Stardust."

He spat in the tray.

"That gives all Spacenoids a bad name. Hell, my mother was born in Side 3, and she condemned that!"

"Wow. You're one of us."

"A Spacenoid? Yes. A Zeon? No. I understand Daikun's message of peace and understanding and respect it. Hell, if it weren't for the Zabis, I would've been born in Side 3. After 69, though..."

"The Principality did murder a lot of people. I'm not proud of that. But we were independent."

"I respect the need for freedom, but to be frank, the Federation is our best hope for peace. The Titans only popped up after OPSTAR."

"You built a nuclear missile-firing Gundam."

"After we heard reports of Doms equipped with nuclear bazookas."

Low blow, but true.

"Besides, we were going to test it with a dummy missile, then put it in storage, hopefully never to be used. Gato fucked that plan over."

The grey-haired girl sighed.

"We shouldn't be fighting, Major."

"No side is truly right in a war. The Federation just had the moral high ground most of the time during the OYW, which disappeared during the Gryps War and returned during the First Neo-Zeon War. Seeing a pattern?"

"We attacked first, I get it."

"History is never kind to its' students. As such, neither am I."

And that's Chapter 2. We'll rejoin our heroes in a month or so.

To recap the events of the _ME_ and _Gundam UC universes_:

It's a year after Char's Counterattack and two years before Unicorn. _(UC)_

2 years since the attack on the Citadel was stopped (the Council survived, and Anderson was chosen for the spot, I might add) and it's just after Tali's Loyalty Mission and pre-Suicide Mission. (It's also before they pick up the Reaper IFF and Legion) _(ME)_

Next Time on _Sword and the Stone_: After a month in this new universe, the Alliance has finally built enough MSs for the Major to do his job: teach on a massive scale.

The Alliance is so screwed.

Ja Ne!


	4. Chapter 3: Keep Your Heads Above the May

Sword and the Stone

Chapter 3: Keep Your Heads Above the Mayhem

Steven Hackett had seen a lot of things in his life.

But this wasn't one of them.

Giant humanoid mechs had 'destroyed' the entire First Fleet in a training simulation.

150 ships and thousands of fighters, slaughtered by 100 Mobile Suits.

The CO of the force, a Major Pinkerton, told him that this was a complete repeat of the Battle of Loum, an embarrassing Earth Federation defeat, down to three Mobile Suits capturing his escape transport.

After that debacle, it was clear.

"Alright, Major. We'll do it."

March 15th, 2185: Earth Systems Alliance dreadnought Everest

"So, why did these Alliance guys just build GMs?"

"Simple answer: beam weapons and money. No offence, but a Gelgoog costs three times more then a GM and that's a bit insulting."

"Just means it's three times as capable."

The Major wanted to give out the statistics on Gelgoogs versus GMs: for every GM lost, three Gelgoogs were killed. But that also counted GMs destroyed by monster weapons like the Big Zam and Zeong.

And even then, there were less Gelgoogs then GMs built.

"These guys aren't going to be using these things in combat. They're building GM IIs and Hizacks for combat duty."

The Major dove toward his Gundam Mk II.

Ever since the 'Second Battle of Loum', a number of Alliance ships had been modified to carry and launch Mobile Suits, like the _Magellan_-Class was during the One Year War.

At the moment, the _Everest_ was on training duty, officially to train new crew in starship operations, and in actuality to train over 750 pilots in Mobile Suit piloting.

And guess who was the lucky trainer?

That's right, the Major was.

And he was enjoying it.

"Gundam Mk II, heading out!"

Earth orbit

While the Major and the MS teams were busy training the new pilots, the ships were being repaired and the secrets of the Minovsky-Ionesco reactor were revealed.

The EFSF fleet were training the Alliance in Minovsky particle warfare, where the boys on the other end discovered that their railguns, in training simulations and real life, just weren't hitting the EFSF fleet.

"_Damn it! Can't we punch through their jamming field_?!"

"_Negative, sir! It's just too powerful_!"

"_This is embarrassing. They're not even putting it out at combat density and we can't hit them_!"

Then the _Albion,_ leading the fleet, got closer and opened fire with their mega particle cannons. Shorter range or not, they still packed a punch, and kinetic barriers were useless thanks to Minovsky particle overload. The closest frigate was destroyed by the Eagle, followed by another destroyer. "_This is Admiral Sheppard on the _Kilimanjaro!_ We're going down_!"

The _Ra_-_Horakhty__ used her huge number of mega particle cannons to destroy the ____Everest__-Class dreadnought. _

_"____Flagship destroyed. Ending simulation__." _

_The destroyed ships reappeared intact and without damage. _

_"You guys need to get close in to hit us with those railguns!" _

_"We know, Lieutenant!" _

_Maya Futyutsuki, acting captain of the ____Albion__, sighed. _

_"All hands, stand down. Inform the guys at the shipyard that we're RTB. I've got a list to draft." _

_She left the bridge, shaking her head all the way out._

_Asteroid belt_

_"Alright, people. This is Major Pinkerton. All you greenhorns think you're so hot because you're fighter pilots. Guess what, kids? MS piloting is a WHOLE new ball game!" _

_"____So what? Your ass is mine__!" _

_The Major smirked. _

_"Alright, hot shot. This is the Ronald Pinkerton School of MS Piloting. Basically, there's only one rule: you 'die', you stay dead. It's 750 on one, and I'm the one. We start..." _

_He opened fire on a GM and 'destroyed' it. _

_"NOW!" _

_He moved into the asteroid field, dodging beam rounds and angry pilots. _

_"____That's cheating__!" _

_"In MS combat, there is no such thing as fair!" _

_He bisected another GM, then used an asteroid as a shield. _

_In true ____Gundam__ fashion, the cannon fodder MSs died quickly, and without mercy. _

_In less then 30 seconds, 50 Mobile Suits were destroyed. _

_This was a combination of the pilots' inexperience, the Major's ability to read the surroundings and his experience in piloting a MS, the Gundam Mk II Commander Type's cockpit and the idiocy of the fighter pilots, who thought that their skill in a fighter would transfer over to a Mobile Suit. _

_Some had the skills, but they weren't good enough to deal with the Major. _

_"Come on, people! Those Neo-Zeon newbies are better then you!" _

_"____We'll show you, you bastard__!" _

_A bazooka-wielding GM tried to destroy the Mk II, but was destroyed in turn by a thrown beam saber to the gut. _

_The weapons survived, and in typical Pinkerton fashion, he took the bazooka before recovering the beam saber. _

_More GMs rushed the Major, but the bazooka and beam rifle made his life easier. _

_"____Damn it! Just DIE__!" _

_The Gundam pulled what Full Frontal would pull in UC 0096: long range sniping attacks. _

_Dozens of GMs were destroyed in the sustained beam attack, forcing the group to break up. "Holy shit!" _

_The Major looked at the E-Cap. _

_"One shot, then I need to recharge the damned thing." _

_Another GM, and this time with a beam saber-the Major smirked happily, knowing ____someone__ was taking his lessons to heart-rushed at him. He fired the rifle one last time, hid behind an asteroid as the GM exploded, swapped out the E-Cap and loaded in another while putting the empty one in a charge slot. _

_Another GM, beam spray gun in hand, opened fire on the Gundam, but the Major simply used the thrusters to dodged the hip-fired rounds. _

_Really, was it so mush of a pain to use the lock on system? _

_He decided to fire a bazooka round at the GM. _

_Clearly the idiot didn't know about the CIWS cannons mounted in the head, as s/he wasted more beam rounds trying to destroy the shell. _

_"____FUCK__!" _

_Scratch that, it was a she. _

_In less then 90 seconds, the Major had wiped out 150 Mobile Suits, and he hadn't even used Kenny yet! _

_"This is ridiculous! Are you people even trying?!" _

_Then he saw the other 600 MSs rushing toward him. _

_"Wow. This is familiar." _

_He pulled out the beam magnum. _

_"Sorry, guys, but that won't work!" _

_He took aim and fired, the ultra-high-powered shot hit one MS, and as we all now, ultracompact Minovsky-Ionesco reactors are nuclear. _

_When one MS goes near a lot of them, they ALL go. _

_"And that, kids, is why you DON'T do that! Simulation's over. All Mobile Suits, RTB."_

___Everest__-Class dreadnought SSV ____Everest_

_"Alright, people, let's review what happened out there. Ramirez, you didn't use the Vulcans to destroy that bazooka round!" _

_"I didn't know they existed, Major!" _

_"Did any of you perform a systems check before you left? ____I__ do! Why do you think I kicked your asses? It's not skill, that's for sure!" _

_The Major sighed as he pointed out their faults and what they should've done instead. _

_"You aren't flying fighters. A Mobile Suit is a ____humanoid__ machine. You must move the Suit like you move ____yourself__! The GM's legs are ____your__ legs. The head is ____your__ head. The arms are ____your__ arms. Think like a Marine; it'll help." _

_"Then you should be asking Marines to be piloting these things!" _

_"I'll be ordering a Marine team to begin training your asses into the ground for this if I have to! We're having another training flight at 0500. You'd better be ready this time." _

_"What are we doing, ____sir__?" _

_"Team combat. I'll show you how it works."_

_Earth orbit_

_Maya was drafting a list of upgrades for Alliance warships. _

_The list read as follows: 1. All ships are to carry Minovsky-Ionesco reactors and mega particle cannons. 2. If size permits, minimum of 4 Mobile Suits per ship. (Reason: Earth Federation forces were killed by lack of coverage) 3. Designs for ships of Earth Federation and Zeon origin are to be used if refits prove fruitless. _

_Those there just three out of 50! _

_"____Lieutenant, Major Pinkerton's on the QEC.__" _

_The ____Albion__ had received a Quantum Entanglement Communicator during her retrofit when she arrived at Earth. It had received a lot of use. _

_"Major, what's up?" _

_"____The pilots are complete and total idiots__." _

_"That's universal." _

_"____What I mean is they don't know how to pilot an MS. I killed 750 in 2 minutes__!" _

_"They suck ____that__ badly?" _

_"____They bunched up and I fired my magnum at them__." _

_Maya sweatdropped. _

_"That's not suckage. That's just stupid." _

_"____I can't believe this. My reputation for teaching is at stake__!" _

_Maya raised an eyebrow. _

_"Major, are you ____that__ worried about your teaching skills? These guys don't know a thing about Mobile Suits." _

_"____I can teach the unteachable! It's what I do__!" _

_"Major, you've got time to teach the idiots. I'll send a few of our pilots to help if you want." _

_"____I think you're a better help then any of your pilots__." _

_Maya's brow went higher. _

_"____I know that Mk II's yours__." _

_Maya sighed. _

_"I haven't piloted it in years." _

_"____No time like the present! And get all of the MS teams here too: I think these guys need a lesson in mass MS combat__." _

_"750 against 240? that's hardly fair." _

_The Major scoffed. _

_"____You're talking to the guy that wiped out those 750 idiots__."_

_Horsehead Nebula_

_The Illusive Man was hard to surprise. _

_It seemed he knew everything. _

_He didn't see this coming. _

_"Mobile Suits." _

_The report from Miranda came with the few files she could get from the ____Albion's__ computer: blueprints for the MS-05 and MS-06 Zaku I and II. _

_She couldn't get her hands on the more dangerous Gelgoog or, even worse, the RX-78 Gundam series. _

_She sent the specs for the reactors, but he discovered that beam weapons were out of the question: the reactors weren't that powerful. _

_The reactors were also designed for MSs, not warships, so fitting them to a cruiser was out of the question. _

_"Send these to the construction teams. I want a squadron of them ready before the end of the month."_

_Mars_

_The two fleets arrived over the red planet within a day thanks to FTL technology. _

_"Alright, people, this is a training exercise: EFSF/Neo-Zeon versus Systems Alliance. The newbies have the advantage of numbers, but we have experience on our side. That, and two Gundams." _

_The second Mk II, a normal one, flew beside the Commander Type piloted by the Major. _

_"Roy!" _

_"__Oi!"_

_"Do it!" _

_"____Aye, sir__!" _

_A track started playing. _

_"Ace of Spades, bitches! Open fire!" (Play Ace of Spades 1984 version) _

_Beam rounds from the Jegans, GM IIIs, Gelgoogs, Geara-Dogas and Hizacks, bullets from the Zakus, bazooka rounds from random MSs and the Mk II's beam magnum ripped up the Alliance force. _

_"____Major, they're getting close__!" _

_"Use the skills I've taught you in melee combat!" _

_As he said that, the Major's Gundam killed a GM as it tried to get close. _

_"Move out! ____Albion,__ you have the deck!" _

_The Mobile Suits got out of the way as the fleet opened fire on the Alliance warships. _

_The fight was a retelling of the Battle of Solomon, with Phobos acting as the space fortress itself. _

_The Alliance learned that it sucked to be the Zeon side of that little battle. _

_"Alright, people, that's enough. AWACS, count up the kills and RTB."_

Stats on RX-178C Gundam Mk II Commander Type

Overall Height: 19.6 meters

Head Height: 18.5 meters

Max Weight: 59.1 metric tons

Standard Weight: 36.4 metric tons

Powerplant: Minovsky Ultracompact Fusion Reactor

Power Output: 3400 kW

Sensor Range: 20200 meters

Accommodation: Pilot only, in panoramic monitor/linear seat cockpit in torso

Armor: Gundarium/Titanium Alloy/Ceramic Composite

Max Acceleration: 2.75 G

Propulsion: Rocket Thrusters: 4 x 23300 kg; Vernier Thrusters/Apogee Motors: 14

Armaments:

2 x XB-G-1048L Beam Saber (fixed)

2 x AEX-VCU608 50mm beam Vulcan cannons (head mounted)

2 x 60mm Vulcans (head mounted)

Optional:

AEX01-BRS14X Veritable Geometry Beam Carbine/Sword

Nu Gundam-type Beam Rifle

Unicorn Gundam-type Beam Gatling Gun

Unicorn Gundam-type Beam Magnum

410mm Hyper Bazooka

Shield

History: The Gundam Mk II Commander Type was built late in the Gryps War, but unused until the middle of the First Neo-Zeon War, when Ronald Pinkerton dusted it off and put it to good use after the lost of his RGM-179 GM II. After the end of the war, Anaheim Electronics modified the MS to a higher standard. In fact, during the end of the Second Neo-Zeon War, the Mk II Commander Type was used to develop weapons for the RX-0 Unicorn in UC 0094. Only one RX-178C was built and the pilot for the only unit is Major Ronald Pinkerton.

AN: One of my Guest Reviewers said s/he couldn't understand my writing style. It's non-contextual, mostly, as I hate using the 's/he said' shit, but at times, you can tell who said what.. The text supplies you with the basic stuff. The rest YOU have to picture: it's what being a reader's all about. And I can't draw comics, so you're out of luck there.

Also, I've adopted an Evangelion story: Somewhere, Someday by Otaku-D Man (I think that's his penname) that I've been busy rewriting to my own standards. This explains my lack of updating.

Next Time on _Sword and the Stone_: April 2185, and the _Albion_ is testing three newly built Systems Alliance MS carriers in the Terminus Systems when Cerberus comes with two modified cruisers and their CMS-06C Cerberus Zaku IIs.

Ja Ne!


	5. Chapter 4: In My Spirit

Sword and the Stone

Chapter 4: In My Spirit

"_Albion_ to _Kamille Bidan_: move it!"

The newly built _Dogosse Giar-_ClassSSV _Kamille Bidan_ tried turning in concert with the smaller Albion. Her larger sister, the _Amuro Ray_, a ship of the _General Revil_-Class, which swapped out most of her weapons for more Mobile Suits, hung back, launching out newly built RGM-89 Jegans and RGZ-95 ReZELs.

As for why the ship had ReZELs, the _Albion_ was carrying four of them in pieces when they arrived in the other universe: one normal, one Commander Type, one Type-C and one Type-C Defenser type.

The ReZEL proved popular, but too high performance for most pilots. But there were enough pilots to warrant the production of 120 of them.

The medium sized ship, the _Judau Ashta_, had more guns then the Amuro Ray, but carried less Mobile Suits. (AN: The _Kamille Bidan_ is a normal Dogosse Giar-Class ship, and carries 24 Mobile Suits and is heavily armed. The _Amuro Ray_ is a basically a copy of the _General Revil_, as seen in _Gundam Unicorn_ Episode 5. The _Judau Ashta _is half-way between them, and carries 36 MSs with two-thirds the armament of the _Kamille)_

The ships they were up against, a group of Alliance frigates refit to carry Mobile Suits, were turning to engage the four ships in mock battle.

The EFSF-designed ships had two had advantages: Minovsky beam weapons and a shitload of Mobile Suits.

The frigates had three: they were slightly faster, had a smaller beam, making them a harder target and were more maneuverable. The fight was on seconds later, as simulated beam rounds hit the lead frigate and destroyed it.

The _Leipzig's_ Mobile Suits, all RGM-79 GMs, were determined to avenge their lost mothership. _"Engage!"_

Earth orbit

The Alliance shipyards were working on overtime.

Most of them were building newer ships from the EFSF or Zeon.

One frame contained a _Nahel Argama_-Class assault carrier, the _Anavel Gato_, while it's neighbor contained a _Rewloola_-Class battleship, the _Shiro__ Amada_, for example.

Most of them were named for Mobile Suit aces of the One Year War, although the _Ra-Cailum_-Class _Bright Noa_ was an exception to the rule.

"Look, even the Zeon guys don't want a ship named the _Haman Karn_. Find another one."

"How about _Musashi_?"

"The WWII battleship? Well, it IS a battleship."

The ship in question was a vessel of the _Birmingham_-Class, although she was refit with the same 'wings' as the _Magellan Kai_-Class ships in the fleet.

Unfortunately, this little secret was about to be fucked over as a ship carrying Turian diplomats entered the Sol system.

The fallout was not pretty at all, believe me.

Citadel station

The Council was glaring at the pictures of the new warships built by the Alliance.

"Smaller then normal human ships."

Valern looked at his fellow councilors.

"That is either a good thing or a bad thing."

They looked to David Anderson, the human member of the Council.

"Don't look at me. I don't know anything about those."

Unlike some people, Anderson rarely, if ever, lied.

They had no choice but to believe him.

"That not the most troubling part."

The Spectre showed them pictures of the exercise in the Valhallan Threshold.

"Those are Alliance frigates, and those ships have human writing on them."

"I'll find out what the hell is going on. I can assure you of that."

Anderson left the Council chambers.

Valhallan Threshold

"_Major, call coming in from command. It's Fleet Admiral Hackett_."

Even with his emergency promotion to the rank of Major General as per EFSF regs (they couldn't have a Major commanding a fleet, as much as he hated it) he preferred to be called Major.

"Patch him through."

He sat back in the cockpit of the Mk II Commander Type. A window popped up with Hackett's face inside it.

"_Major General_."

"Major, actually. Promotion or not, I'm a teacher."

"_The Council found out about the fleet_."

The Major sighed.

"Can't build a fleet in secret, can we?"

"_Clearly not. They also found our training spot_."

"Explains the drone I blew up."

Hackett gave him a look.

"What? I was doing my job. Someone's got to teach those kids the difference between a GPMG and a beam rifle."

"_I've got the Council up my ass, Major. That's a bad thing. For YOU_."

"What do you need me to do then, Admiral?"

"_The Turians, Asari and Salarians are sending a small task force to you. They want to know what you can do_."

The Major smirked.

"Tell them that they should be ready to get their asses kicked, Admiral."

Council task force

15 ships, mostly dreadnoughts and cruisers, dropped out of FTL near the combat zone.

"_Council task force, this is SSV _Phoenix. _We'll be acting as your go-between_."

General Adrien Victus would've raised an eyebrow if he had any.

"_Phoenix_, this is General Victus. Why are you acting as our 'go-between'?"

"_Major Pinkerton wants to make sure your ships are in simulation mode. Doesn't want his ships damaged by live fire_."

The Turian shrugged.

"Link our computers to theirs. We can't test them if we can't open fire on them."

The crew hurried to carry out his orders. It was going to suck to be them.

Systems Alliance/EFSF training fleet

Major General Ronald Pinkerton smirked.

"Quick question, people. Anyone a veteran of the Battle of Loum?"

"_I was, Major._"

"Good. As of now, this is Operation Loum. Same plan as the Zeon guys pulled. Colonel Futyutsuki, you have fleet command!"

The 300 Mobile Suits in the Alliance fleet moved toward the Council task force.

"_They're launching fighter_s."

"Too bad for them."

The Gundam Mk II Commander Type flew toward the fighters at high speed.

The prototype MS drew a beam saber, then cut up a large number of Turian and Asari fighters as they flew past.

The GMs and other Mobile suits dealt with the fighters with ease, as the simulated Minovsky particles disabled them. In short, it was slaughter.

"Anyone for a Char?"

"_Hell yes! Go for it, Major_!"

"Not what I meant."

He pulled out the beam Gatling. It wasn't the most effective weapon, but it had the 'oh, fuck me RUN' factor.

After all, who wouldn't run from a man with a Gatling?

He opened up, and was honestly surprised when the first ship went up in flames.

"Damn, they've got thin skin."

He supposed that they were used to having shields to protect their asses, so why not make the skin thinner then necessary? He targeted the next closest ship, an Asari _Destiny Ascension_-Class dreadnought, and ripped it apart before the E-Cap ran dry.

He holstered the weapon and pulled out the beam magnum.

Unlike the newer model, it had a large 10 round magazine, and didn't eject the E-Caps once they were fired, instead the empty E-Cap was moved so another could take its' place.

That way, they could be recharged in combat.

The tradeoff was firing speed, but the Major preferred taking some extra time in making sure his target would die in one shot.

And he had three extra clips.

"So many shots, so little targets."

He was going to ENJOY this.

5 hours later

"You destroyed all of our ships!"

"This is war. You don't play fair."

After less then 15 minutes, the Council force was wiped out.

As the Major said, there was no such thing as fair.

"We want access to these...Mobile Suits."

"Dime a dozen if you want the GMs."

The blinking from Victus was all the answer he needed.

"Now, if you excuse me, I have people to train."

Then the dreadnought shook.

"What the hell?"

"_Major, this is_ Albion! _We've picked up a pair of ships, unknown class! They're firing on the Council fleet_!"

He looked toward his Mk II.

"I'll handle them. Get your asses out of here!"

Victus followed him, as he wanted to see what it could do from the perspective of the cockpit.

"Out of my way! Shut off the AG field!"

He climbed into the cockpit, followed by the Turian General.

"General, it's one-man only."

Victus found the folding seat.

"Oh, fuck. I keep forgetting that's there."

"Not very big."

"It's designed for humans. Hey, morons! Shut off the AG field! I need to leave the ship!"

The hatch shut, the cockpit's screens activated and the Gundam was launched into the vacuum.

"Hang on tight, General!"

The turn nearly launched the Turian into the monitors, but the big man held on.

"What the hell? Those are Zakus!"

The attackers, were, indeed, MS-06 Zaku IIs.

The colors were different, dominated by black, yellow and white.

Their weapons also looked like M-96 Mattock assault rifles.

There was also a well-known and hated symbol on the right shoulder-mounted shield.

"That fucking bitch! These fuckers are with Cerberus!"

Then he drew a beam saber, impaling the cockpit of the closest Zaku II.

The Major was knocked out a few seconds later as a Zaku II rammed the Mk II, and as all _ME_ fans know, Turians have hard heads.

As such, the Major wasn't getting up anytime soon.

Victus hijacked the Gundam, and used it to the best of his ability to destroy the Cerberus Mobile Suits.

From that moment on, Victus realized the truth: Mobile Suits were the future of combat in all forms.

They had a wider range of uses for their size, and could be used for anything for armed combat to transporting heavy objects.

And they only needed a few modifications for different jobs: the EWAC Zack had some of the electronics replaced and the head was different, but the rest was the same.

And some could be specialized, from what Victus understood.

Oh, yes, he was liking Mobile Suits a _lot_ now.

CMS-06 Zaku II Cerberus Type

Stats: Unknown, but likely close to original MS-06F or 06F2

Weapons: See MS-06 Zaku II; 1 x M-96 Mattock-based rifle of 100mm caliber with underslung MG of 50mm caliber

Users: Cerberus, Asari Republics (uses upgraded AMS-06A Zaku II Asari Type) Salarian Union (uses upgraded SMS-06A Zaku II Salarian Type) Turian Hierarchy (Uses upgraded TMS-06A Zaku II Turian Type) Pirates and mercenary groups (All) (All use same basic frame as CMS-06, but cockpits are designed for each species. Sole exclusion are AMS-06A, which use cockpits from human Mobile Suits)

Special features: 360-degree cockpit used by RGM-179 GM II (Cerberus type is unknown; data comes from Asari, Salarian and Turian Mobile Suits)

History: Developed from the famous MS-06 Zaku II using data stolen from MSC-07 Albion, the Cerberus Zaku II (and sub-types) is the first MS type built in this universe in numbers. While inferior to the RGM-79 GM in armament, maneuverability and general power generation, it has the benefit of being easier to build, being made of steel rather then titanium. The MS started its' use in 2185, in Cerberus colors. After the first battle, three of them were disabled, and one was sent to Palaven to develop it for Turian use. The emblem of the Turian Mobile Suit Corps from 2185 to 2194 was of a blue and brown Turian Zaku, showing the importance of the mech to Turian society. The Salarians, after noting that classical methods of war were no longer viable, adopted a version built for their needs. The Asari Type is a Cerberus Zaku II fit with all-Asari equipment, minus the all-important cockpit, which is built by the Systems Alliance. Weapons developed for the Cerberus Zaku can be used by all others, but Turian, Asari and Salarian weapons cannot be used by Cerberus Zakus. The Racial Zakus were replaced by the more expensive, but simply better, RGM-179 GM II and RGM-86R GM III in front line service in 2193, (Turian) 2194 (Salarian) and 2209 (Asari) when the Systems Alliance fielded the newer, deadlier RGM-89SR2 Jegan. Even so, it remains in service simply because there are so many of them. Discarded Racial Zakus are used by dozens of mercenary groups, including the Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse.

Next Time on Sword and the Stone: Late April 2185:Adrien Victus and Ronald Pinkerton begin training Turians on MS piloting, and another Mobile Suit-using force arrives.

Ja Ne!


	6. Chapter 5: Faint Operation

Sword and the Stone

Chapter 5: Faint Operation

Palaven was a nice world.

And Ron liked it.

At least from orbit.

The deck on the _Albion_ was full of Turian-built Zaku IIs, and standing in front of them were their pilots.

"I'm Major Pinkerton, commander of the Earth Federation Space Forces Task Force 108 Mobile Suit Corps. I am your instructor. You will learn how to pilot a Mobile Suit in combat, learn how to maintain it, and learn that my Mobile Suit is the deadliest motherfucker on the battlefield!"

"That's a little conceited." The Major narrowed his eyes.

"It's not just my MS you should fear. The word 'Gundam' is feared by every MS pilot. And guess what, jackass? You just volunteered to show your fellow pilots why."

Victus shook his head at the idiocy of the volunteers for the Turian 1st Mobile Suit Squadron.

Less then two weeks after learning to copy and upgrade the Cerberus Zakus, the Major agreed to train Turian MS pilots.

Problem was, they didn't believe that a Mobile Suit could do as advertized.

Oh, they were wrong about that one.

Earth orbit: 5 days later

Few people saw it, but an explosion of epic scale occurred near Earth's moon.

If anyone was awake at the time, they would have recognized it as the same explosion that preceded the arrival of the Universal Century fleet.

When the light faded, a huge fleet was in it's place, with a huge exploding asteroid fortress in the center.

The closest ship that could intercept was the former Neo-Zeon warship _Sazadan_, commanded by Colonel Maya Futyutsuki. "Attention, unidentified vessels and Mobile Units."

The fight between the two sides stopped for a moment to regard the newcomer. "This is Colonel Futyutsuki of the Neo-Zeon vessel _Sazadan_. You are within Earth Systems Alliance space. Stand down of we WILL open fire!"

"This is the ZAFT warship Minerva to Zeon vessel Sazadan: what the hell makes you think you can take us all on with one ship?"

Maya smirked.

This fleet didn't use Minovsky-Ionesco reactors, as there were no Minovsky particles in the area.

"Fire beam cannons, wide angle."

"Aye, ma'am!"

The 10 mega particle cannons fired, disabling most of the ships without actually hitting them.

But three Mobile Suits weren't dead in the water.

Those were identified as the ZGMF-X56S Impulse, X42S Destiny and X666S Legend.

Thankfully, the _Sazadan_ had support: the recently arrived _Albion_ and the Gundam Mk II.

A beam magnum shot saved the Sazadan from getting hacked to pieces by the three Gundams.

"_What the hell_?!"

The Mk II bashed the Destiny with its' shield, sending it spinning.

RX-178C Gundam Mk II Commander Type

"I don't like the look of that one with the big backpack."

Those things looked too much like Funnels.

And the Mk II had a secret weapon created by Anaheim on board: a quasi-psycommu system and something called the NT-D.

The last time it was used was in testing against four Silver Bullets.

And he didn't remember a thing from that time.

The ARX-014 Silver Bullet was a drone unit designed to test Newtype weapons.

And he destroyed all four in less then 20 seconds.

'If it's that powerful, I don't want to activate it.'

He activated a recording device.

That way, if it DID, he would know what the hell he was doing afterward.

Then the Providence launched the weapons, confirming their Funnel status.

"Oh, shit."

Restraints clasped around his arms, legs and head. A soothing voice said two words.

"NT-D activated."

The cockpit screens deactivated. After all, he wasn't going to need them.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Neo-Zeon Warship _Sazadan_

"What the hell is going on?!"

"It's been activated!"

"What's been activated?!"

"The NT-D! It's some kind of badass performance limiter remover! And it only activates when-Oh, shit!"

"What?"

"I just realized what NT-D means! It stands for 'Newtype Destroyer'!"

Maya's eyes widened.

"You created an OS designed to kill Newtypes?!"

"The OS was created by Anaheim! All the Major was doing was test it with the Mk II! Hell, I thought the Chief locked the damned thing up!"

"Clearly not."

"We should've removed the quasi-psycommu system! Otherwise-" "A quasi-psycommu system?!"

Maya knew the Major wasn't a Newtype: couldn't be, as he wasn't piloting something like the Nu Gundam.

But the quasi-psycommu system was a super-powered version of the original, meaning anyone could use it.

Combining that with the NT-D...

"If the pilot of that Gundam is a Newtype, then he's as good as dead."

ZGMF-X666S Providence

Rey Za Berell had seen many things in the Second Bloody Valentine War, but a simplified version of the Strike wasn't one of them.

And one that was destroying his DRAGOONs was another.

"Damn you!"

He fired his beam rifle at the offending MS, but the Mk II deflected it using, clearly, nothing.

In reality, it was an I-Field.

The Mk II wasn't normally equipped with an I-Field generator, but the Minovsky-Ionesco reactor could still create one.

The NT-D, and the mind of its' pilot, shaped it.

And it was doing the job beautifully.

And the scream was maddening.

The pilot was in pain.

"DIE! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!"

The Mk II drew a beam saber, and Rey knew the pilot's intent.

Still, the DRAGOONs, and thus the rifle, were useless against that thing's shield.

This would be a beam saber match.

Rey drew the saber and targeted the Mobile Suit.

The IFF tag identified it as the RX-178C Gundam Mk II.

'Isn't that the OS for God knows how many Mobile Suits?'

Rey would learn that this Gundam was one to be feared.

As if an MS-sized human, it deflected the saber.

Rey saw his death coming as the Mk II pulled out the beam magnum.

And aimed at his cockpit.

"Oh, f-"

The rifle-sized mega particle cannon fired, ripping the Legend apart.

It didn't completely destroy it, as there was no nuclear detonation, but everything below the cockpit and the cockpit itself was destroyed.

This was the power of a Gundam controlled by a quasi-psycommu system and a pilot who survived two wars that was armed to the teeth.

ZGMF-X42S Destiny

"What the hell was that?!"

He just saw that fucking thing kill Rey like he was cannon fodder!

Lunamaria was no no shape to fight that monster his IFF IDed as the RX-178C Gundam Mk II.

And it was targeting him.

"_ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam, this is MSC-07 _Albion! _We are transferring combat data on RX-178C Gundam Mk II Commander Type to you_!"

"What good is that going to do?!"

"_Well, your captain seems to think you can stop him. If not, well, you're fucked either way_."

"What makes you say that?"

"_When his control is removed, he becomes Death, Destroyer of Worlds_."

Shinn stared at the Mk II as it charged toward him.

"Shit!"

The Arondight moved to block the beam saber from gutting him, but the Gundam Mk II had three advantages over the Destiny: the NT-D, which used the pilot as the CPU, the beam magnum and the thing that made the Mk II so special in the beginning: the Movable Frame System.

It allowed the Mk II to move like a human being, unlike the limits of the RX-78 series.

There WAS a reason it was called the Gundam Mk II.

Shinn's Destiny had two advantages over the Mk II, however: the Mirage Colloid 'Wings of Light' and the massive cannon on the Destiny's hip.

But neither could help him in a close in fight against the Mk II.

The Arondight was too big and unwieldy against the smaller, faster beam saber.

Thankfully, he had backup.

"_Shinn_!"

The Impulse attacked the Mk II, but the MS was faster then it looked. Again, the Movable Frame was the key to that. It drew the second beam saber and blocked Luna's attack.

"Who the hell is this guy?!"

"_His name's Major Ronald Pinkerton. He's my CO and the best pilot in the fleet. And his raw skill is kicking your asses_."

That was true.

The Mk II was a simple Mobile Suit, but it was ruining his day.

The Gryps War-era MS kicked the Cosmic Era Gundam away before focusing on the Impulse.

"Oh, shit!"

The shield arm was hacked off, and a number of fast, and violent, stabs to the frame disabled the Impulse.

Thankfully, Shinn had help from an unlikely source: the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom and X19A Infinite Justice.

The saying 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' came to mind.

"What the hell. I could use all the help I can get."

Objective POV

"_Kira, that thing doesn't look exactly friendly_."

The brown-haired pilot of the Strike Freedom sighed.

"Athrun, that Mobile Suit just blew up the Legend with one shot. That is painfully obvious."

"_Never known you to be a cynic, Kira_."

"Just saying, that thing is not nice."

The Mk II charged at the SF, twin sabers a-flaring.

The Xiphas railguns would be enough to take it out, but the Mk II was heavily armored from what the Albion told them.

And then there was that beam cannon.

The files called it a Type-01A Beam Magnum, and it had more then enough power to burn through MESSIAH's beam shield.

And the pilot was good enough to hit fast moving Mobile Suits with it.

And from the look of things, the Xiphas was the only weapon other then the CWIS cannons that could hit it.

And the only way to disable it was to hit it with the Xiphas.

"_Kira, he's heading for you_!"

The Coordinator took aim with the Xiphas cannons and fired.

The Mk II didn't bother to dodge, but even after that hit, all it did was remove some of the paint.

"What the hell is that thing made of?!"

"_Titanium/ceramic with something called Gundarium alloy armor, according to the file_."

Kira fired the Xiphas cannons again.

Most of the front paint was gone now, but all that did was piss off the damn thing, if the now-glowing red eyes were a sign.

Kira sighed.

"Fuck it."

"_Kira, you _never_ swear_."

"This guy is getting on my nerves, Athrun."

Then the Mk II pulled out the beam magnum.

"Evade!"

The Gundams dodged the ultra-powered ball of death, but an Agamemnon-Class battleship wasn't so lucky. It was destroyed in that one shot. "Holy crap!"

Kira knew launching his Super DRAGOONs was a bad idea: that was what activated this 'NT-D' in the first place and it just might hack them.

He indeed locked on with every other weapon he had and fired.

The I-Field didn't protect the MS from it, but all that did was damage the inner frame.

"Seriously? This is insane!"

Then the Destiny attacked from behind, destroying the thruster pack using a beam rifle.

But the Destiny wasn't getting off lightly.

The Mk II grabbed the Destiny and hacked off the arms with its' beam saber.

Athrun charged in and impaled the Mk II, missing the reactor and cockpit on purpose.

"What the fuck is with this thing?!"

Then the Mk II finally shut down.

Then they heard a pissed off voice.

"W_hat in fuck's name did you people do to my Gundam_?!"

"_What the fuck did we do to your Gundam?! You fucked up my Mobile Suit_!"

"_Up yours_!"

What? I actually LIKED SEED: first Gundam series and all.

Specs on QRGM-79A GM Quarian Type

Stats: Unknown, but likely close to original RGM-79 GM

Weapons: See RGM-79 GM; 1 x Pulse/Beam Rifle

Users: Quarian Migrant Fleet; Geth Collective (Uses QRGM-79G GM Geth Type)

History: Developed from the long lasting RGM-79 series, the Quarian GM is the first beam rifle-using MS to be built in numbers (not counting the MSs of the Alliance, which used pre-existing Earth Federation MS designs) and deployed in numbers. As the Quarians were allies of the Alliance, they were keen to hand over the RGM-79 GMs that were used to train the Alliance pilots. The MS techs on the MSC-07 _Albion_ modified two of them for Quarian use 360 cockpits. After the end of the Second Quarian/Geth War, the Quarians gave the Geth designs for the MS, and they created a Geth model numbered QRGM-79G. The Quarian/Geth MS Corps used the QRGM-79 series as their frontline MS until 2215, when the newer RGM-86R became available. Due to its usefulness, however, it is clear the GM Quarian/Geth Type will remain in service for a long time to come.

Next Time on Sword and the Stone: June 2185, and ball gets rolling as the Normandy attacks the Collector base, and the _Albion_ stops a small scale Reaper invasion.

Ja Ne!


	7. Chapter 6: Assault Waves

Sword and the Stone

Chapter 6: Assault Waves

"Major, is there a reason we're heading to the Hades Gamma cluster?"

"Other then a major training exercise with Victus' new MS Corps and the Asari Commando unit? Not much."

Victus had convinced the Hierarchy that his new MS Corps, made up of over 300 Turian-built Zaku IIs and RMS-119 EWAC Zacks, would be the future of war after kicking the shit out of every Turian fleet with MSs alone. Needless to say, it gave the EFSF/Zeon forces something to laugh at. The Turian MS carriers were modified dreadnoughts, just like the Alliance ones, as they were big enough to carry at least a dozen or so.

And Victus got his hands on a new MS: the D-50C Loto.

It was replacing a number of APCs (AN: Wheeled vehicles are NOT tanks. Get this enough your heads) through the Alliance and, due to its' performance, was replacing most of them in the Hierarchy military forces.

Mostly because the Alliance and Turian one used beam cannons.

The Gundam Mk II stood in the hanger, as it had been for the past two months.

The guys from the Cosmic Era nearly totaled it, but there was enough to fix it up, and the guys on the _ReHOME_ were nice enough to upgrade if to use those nifty Striker Packs.

In fact, most of the Alliance MSs were being modified for their use. (AN: Who says that SEED didn't come up with awesome ideas?)

Most of the time, however, the only thing it mounted was the default thruster pack.

"It's too bad that we can't remove the quasi-psycommu system and the NT-D. After the refit Anaheim did, they're practically built in."

"At least after that debacle, we were able to tune the IFF on the fucking thing. And now I can actually control the Destroy Mode."

"Whoever came up with that nickname needs to be shot."

"Then you'll have to shoot me."

Howe balked at the thought.

"What? I can't call it 'Newtype Destroyer Mode'."

"No Newtypes to kill."

"Tell that to the pilot of the Legend."

MSC-07 Albion

The _Albion, Bright Noa_ and four Turian MS carriers entered the Hades Gamma cluster.

"_All MS forces, this is Major Pinkerton. Unlike what you have been told, this is not a training exercise. Intel from the Normandy has informed us of a Reaper invasion force coming in through this sector of space_."

"Major-"

Then the EWAC Zacks started going nuts.

"_Sirs, detecting large vessels entering sector_!"

Then four ships, copies of the same one that attacked the Citadel 2 years earlier, dropped out of FTL.

"_What the hell? Are those Geth ships_?"

"_No. They aren't. _Albion!_ Send out the IWSP Kai! I think I'm going to need it_!"

The Integrated Weapons Striker Pack Kai was an upgraded version of the IWS Pack created for the Strike Gundam.

It made the weapons more compact, as it combined Earth Alliance/OMNI Enforcer tech with PLANT/ZAFT tech.

Sometimes the last thing anyone wants is to fuck with someone who can kick the shit out of 50 genetically engineered people with his bare hands.

Normandy SR-2

"How long until we get to the Collector base?"

"A few hours, but that's only good news."

Sheppard looked at Miranda.

"And the bad?"

"Pinkerton's ambushed the Reaper force in Hades Gamma."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Apparently, the Major's kicking their asses. Minovsky particles are a bitch, even for the Reapers."

That put a smile on her face.

After hearing of the Cerberus attack on the Alliance training fleet in April, Sheppard decided that after the Collectors were dealt with, they were gone.

Miranda agreed with that, as she gave the Illusive Man access to MS technology and regretted it.

Hades Gamma

The four Sovereign-Class Reapers were approaching are Mach 1.5: a slow speed compared to the .9 sublight they could pull.

"These Reaper fuckers aren't ready for MS combat! Engage and destroy!" (AN: Gundam Unicorn's Laplace, anyone?)

The Turian Zakus and the Mk II broke off so the _Albion's_ mega particle cannons could attack the Reaper dreadnoughts.

Two of them took direct hits, and the Mk II took the closest one.

"Two kilometers long and armed to the teeth, but just another piece of scrap metal in the end!" He targeted the Reaper and fired the M2010 Kerberos Agni Kai multiphase beam cannons, along with the beam magnum.

Never accuse him of not having enough firepower.

As expected, the cannons did their job: the MPCs damaged the hull while the pure power of the beam magnum's plasma round punched through the Reaper like a beam saber through butter.

"Aw, shit. Now I want toast."

"_What?!"_

"Random thought! Sorry!"

With one Reaper dead in space, the multimillion year old Reapers decided to run.

Not happening.

The _Albion_ and _Bright Noa_ dumped hundreds of beam rounds into the three Reapers while the Mobile Suit teams did their job: systematically ripping the fuckers apart.

Thankfully, the Major was nice enough to give the Turians beam magnums, as their normal mass effect weapons would be useless.

Massed fire from the Turian-built Zaku IIs destroyed two of the huge Reaper dreadnoughts while the fleet themselves destroyed the last one with mass effect railgun fire and beam rounds.

"Nice work! All MS teams, RTB! We killed four of those things today!"

Collector base

"Set the charges. We're blowing this place to hell."

The charges, of course, were nuclear.

"_Commander, there's a signal coming from the Illusive Man_."

"Put the bastard up."

A holographic image of the Illusive Man appeared.

"_Sheppard, you've done the impossible_."

"Not done yet. As soon as the charges are set, we're gone."

"_Sheppard_-"

"I know as about your Cerberus Zaku program. You're just a power hungry manic."

"Miranda!"

"Sorry, I'm with Sheppard on this one."

The man growled. Then the one thing they DIDN'T want to run into arrived: the fucking Human Reaper.

"_I'll handle it_!"

Sheppard and her team turned to face a familiar, friendly sight: Maya Futyutsuki and her Gundam Mk II.

She had boarded the _Normandy_ a few hours before, as the Collectors weren't ready for MS combat.

"_I'll handle this thing! Get back to the_ Normandy!"

She opened fire. The beam rifle managed to punch a few holes in the Reaper's frame, allowing the team to escape.

"Move! The Gundam will cover us!"

A round went into the Reaper's 'heart', killing it.

"Fall back to the _Normandy_! Forget the Reaper!"

The Gundam Mk II turned and used its' thrusters to jump out.

"_This is Colonel Futyutsuki: are the charges set_?"

"Aye, ma'am. They're set to blow."

"Good. I need to get back to Earth ASAP."

The _Normandy_ met with the Gundam midway, and Sheppard and co. boarded the ship.

"_All aboard_?"

"We're on, Joker! Get us the hell out of here!"

"Gundam's secured! Getting the hell out of here!"

As soon as the _Normandy_ cleared the belt, she jumped into FTL. And as soon as they were gone, the nukes blew, taking out the base.

Hades Gamma

"So, why do we have to hand the beam magnums back to the humans?"

"Have you taken a look at our Mobile Suits?"

One Zaku II's arm was in the wrong place.

"That's why. The recoil's a bitch. The only MS can actually handle it is the Gundam Mk II."

"No shit."

"At least you know why."

The two Turians faced the Major.

"It took 6 months to refit the Mk II to handle the recoil of that fucking thing. The first time it was fired, the right arm was destroyed."

"That bad?"

"My MS was made of titanium with ceramic composite. We had to add Gundarium just to it fire once. 60% of the inner frame is made of the shit now."

"And the armor itself?" "25% titanium alloy, 25% ceramic composite and 50% Gundarium alloy. That and the new Trans Shift Armor from the Cosmic Era Earth Alliance should make it be able to survive in combat longer the Mk II could ever have hoped for."

The Mk II was showing its' age, and he knew it.

The armor was almost useless against everything but missiles and Vulcan rounds.

The Trans Shift Armor, however, gave it some protection against beam weapons and ME railguns. And the Striker Packs enhanced the speed and maneuverability of the Mk II, at least when the Aile or IWSP Kai packs were installed, putting it on par with or exceeding newer Mobile Suits like the Jegan or Geara-Doga. Against the Strike Freedom or the Destiny, however, the Major would have no choice but to use the NT-D. "Major!"

The human turned to face another Turian, this time wearing normal armor.

"You must be a member of the Turian version of ECOAS."

"ECOAS?"

"It's short for Earth, Colony, Asteroid. They're SpecOps: mostly use D-50C Lotos for infiltration operations."

"Yes, sir. We're members of the Turian Special Operations Mobile Suit Corps."

"SOMSC. Not a great acronym, but hell, ECOAS isn't any better."

Then 20 TD-50A Loto Turian Types were loaded into the Turian ship's hanger.

"At least I know you guys can handle a Loto. Just like driving a tank."

"A lot harder, actually."

"A REAL tank, not those wheeled APCs."

He jumped to his Gundam, then closed the cockpit.

"Jegan team, you're dragging those magnums back to the _Albion._ I'll fly escort."

"Copy that, Major."

"Don't start."

Earth

The Cosmic Era fleet were on war game exercises with the remaining ships of TF 108 and TF 651. "Hold still, damn it!"

Yzak Joule turned his ZGMF-2000 GOUF Ignited to face the more agile Jegan piloted by Kate Warfield, a Londo Bell pilot.

"_Nice try, Joule, but the only way you can beat me is with one of those Gundams of yours! Your GOUF's just too SLOW_!"

He growled, but conceded the point that she was right.

The Strike Freedom and Destiny were able to disable the Gundam Mk II, which was MUCH faster and more agile then the Jegan he was facing.

And that was BEFORE the EFSF MSs were refit to use Striker Packs.

At the moment, he was facing one without a Striker Pack, and he was using the ZAFT Wizard version of the Aile Striker Pack.

And he was STILL getting his ass kicked.

Off in the distance was a different story: a trio of RMS-106 Hizacks were having trouble dealing with the Impulse.

'Impulse Gundam,' as the EFSF and Neo-Zeon boys called it.

And Luna was giving them a hard time with it.

"Don't get complacent!" The Jegan stabbed the GOUF through the cockpit with the shield, 'killing' Yzak. "Sucks to be you!"

The simulation ended, and Yzak watched as the _Minerva_ was destroyed by the _Ra-____Horakhty._

_"Damn." _

_"____Well, it's kind of simple to destroy ships like the __Minerva.____ Minovsky beam weapons punch through our armor like a hot knife through tissue paper__." _

_"Shut up, Dearka." _

_The only ship actually putting up a fight was the ____Archangel__, but it was barely dodging beams from the ____Gwashu__ and the ____Raptor__. _

_It was finally destroyed by the ____Anavel Gato's__ Hyper Mega Particle Cannon, but she took out ten ships before the heavy guns of the EFSF vessels took her down. _

_"Alright, people, good work on all fronts. At least we found out which of your ships are the best." _

_"____Screw you__!"_

_To a guest reviewer: The Zaku II sucks and the GM isn't much better. The Alliance has fucking JEGANS. Besides, the Turians got their hands on Cerberus Zakus first, and there is such a thing as corporate espionage. Other then that, it's surplus: they WANT to get rid of them._

_Specs on RGM-89SA Jegan Systems Alliance Type_

_Stats: Higher performance then original type; can mount Striker, Wizard and Silhouette Packs_

_Weapons: See RGM-89 GM, GAT-04 Windam and ZGMF-1001 ZAKU and -2000 GOUF_

_Users: Systems Alliance, Earth Federation Space Forces after UC 0210_

_History: Developed from the RGM-89 Jegan, the Jegan SA Type has a universal hardpoint designed to mount Cosmic Era X-Pack weapons. It is superior in performance to all but custom built Mobile Suits like the RX-93 Nu Gundam, and is rivaled by the RX-178C Gundam Mk II Commander Type in performance, making it the first truly mass produced high-performance MS. It rolled out in late 2185, and was supplied in sufficient numbers to beat back the Reaper invasion of Earth. After the end of the war, the Neo-Zeon/Londo Bell fleet left after recreating the accident that sent them to the Mass Effect universe, taking 200 Jegan SA Types with them. It is assumed they now make up part of the backbone of the new EFSF's MS Corps._

_Next Time on Sword and the Stone: July 2185: the Alliance has developed a Jegan-type Mobile Suit that will replace the GM II in their service. And guess who has to test it?_

_Ja Ne!_


End file.
